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Last week, I published an article titled, “Atheist support for Obama down significantly.” The article itself did not advocate whether or not atheists should support Obama, just that many atheists are withdrawing their support for Obama. Most people responded to the article by pledging their undying loyalty to the President. I think that is a terrible idea.

People argue that Obama is the lesser of two evils and they got to go with the lesser of two evils, therefore vote Obama. But there is a problem with that logic. The problem is that it incorrectly assumes that what we got is what we will get. The fact of the matter is that neither Obama nor Romney gives a rat’s ass about anything they say and would gladly switch positions on a dime if it meant they could lock up the election. In other words, our candidates are wearing a big “For Sale” sign on their chests and you lot want to tell them that you will throw money at them without having to get anything at all from them in return.

When someone says that they will vote for Obama no matter what, this is what he hears, “Great, I got their vote in the bag, so let me try to court some teabaggers. I know I won’t be able to convince many of them, but I got nothing to lose and I might convince a small number of right wing wackos if I push some right wing policy before Election Day.”

What I am asking people to do is to send a different message to the President. By telling the President that we don’t think he is progressive enough and that we might not support him on Election Day unless he starts paying attention to us, we force him to say to himself, “Shit, I might lose the atheist/progressive vote and I fucking need them to win the election. I better throw them a bone or two before Election Day.” In other words, I am advocating pushing the President more to the left rather than accepting that he is going to continue to pander to the right.

Now, it is true that the President might say, “Nah, they’re bluffing.” That is why I have maintained my strong stance. Maybe I am bluffing and maybe I am not. But I’m betting that I can stare the President down on this one and that he will blink before I do. The problem is that so many of you have already blinked before he even looked in your direction. That isn’t going to work out for you.

So let me make this clear. I don’t really give a flying fuck who you vote for on Election Day, but between now and then it would be in all of our best interest if you used the power of your vote to leverage change. When you go into that voting booth, you can vote for whoever the fuck you want, but until then send Obama the message that he may or may not get your vote and that it really does depend on him.

If Obama really wants your vote, tell him that he has to pay for it and it won’t be cheap!

It’s far too late for atheists to influence the federal election. Atheists need to organize locally, and if nothing else be the kingmakers in local elections — especially the primaries. Most atheists are Democrats, so we should push Democratic primary candidates into a more pro-reason position. The Tea Party has used that tactic (influencing primaries) to considerable success.